I don't think we sound crazy to most people anymore. Kinda weirding me out
Heat trend
The percentage is based on available heat signal, not comment count or independent people.
The perception of AI progress and the Singularity is shifting, with fewer people dismissing the topic as "crazy." Even on Reddit, where skepticism about AI was once common, there's a growing acknowledgment of AI's capabilities. Many who previously denied AI's impact now admit to using AI tools daily and are surprised by their effectiveness, leading to a collective realization about the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence.
Been generally tracking sentiment on the topic of the Singularity and AI progress for a very long time - on Reddit, in real life, wherever.
A year ago, while people talking about AI progress were starting to be taken seriously, the Singularity still was pretty niche and on places like Reddit people would still not respect any position that tried to argue it seriously, and bubble popping and walls were still primarily how people discussed AI.
That's been shifting particularly rapidly in the last 8 months, and I think in the last month or so, it suddenly started feeling very different.
In public, I hear people openly talking about AI _everywhere_. Not just how they don't like data centers... I hear regular people talking about using agents and freaking out. I've heard that kinda thing at the dog park multiple times over the last few weeks - I try not to even talk about it in places like that to keep some AI free islands... But there really aren't any of those anymore. I hear it at the bar when I go out dancing! It feels like people are really grappling with feeling capabilities rise... Maybe because more and more people are experiencing multiple generations of models now?
It's not just that people are using advanced models now and are talking about AI capabilities, it's that they are taking seriously the idea that we will have robotics soon. I don't even have to bring it up anymore as a potential future consideration, it's on people's minds already. Jobs, automation, even what it means to be a human being in the future we are building are all regular parts of the conversion, either implicitly or explicitly predicated on concepts like RSI!
I am... Happy? Confused? Pleasantly surprised?
There are still people who are in denial, very normal, or people who are still out of the loop or just can't understand... But even on other subs here on Reddit that are notorious for not taking AI progress seriously... Well if someone says that AI code is terrible or useless or whatever, it's now just a crowd of people who are _not me_ arguing with that person. Often people say something to the effect of "Look dude, I believed this too until a little while ago but I was in denial, I have to use these tools every day and I can't lie to myself about how capable they are anymore and I'm freaking out".
Anyway... This is good but jarring! Has anyone else noticed?